RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology has seen adoption for many uses, such as advertising, transportation, shipping and general inventory management, for instance. Tagging and tracking items with RFID technology in inventory stock is generally done to decrease latency in the reporting of inventory information and to increase the accuracy in the information being reported. In many use cases, the application of RFID technology to inventory management procedures can produce significant gains in a business's efficiency and speed of operations, and further permits the use of electronic tracking and large-scale inventory information analysis often used for further improvements systemically.
RFID technology in general, however, has some disadvantages that can be magnified in certain potential use cases. In some industries, coping with these types of issues has led to a slower rate of deployment of the technology in general. For example, in the medical industry, accuracy of the objects being inventoried (typically medication) is critical.
The medical professionals using the inventoried medication need to consistently have particular medications available to them. Known RFID inventory technology is insufficient, however, due to problem with the labor-intensive creation of such RFID devices, inability to provide bulk scanning, and the actual or potential inaccurate RFID readings due to electromagnetic interference and leakage which can cause inaccuracies in the gathered data.
There is, therefore, an unmet need in the prior art for a highly accurate bulk scanning RFID inventory device that is relatively easy and cost efficient to manufacture. There is also an unmet need for a scanning RFID inventory device that is secure. Pain killers and other medications are commonly subject to theft. Furthermore, there are many settings outside of the traditional hospital or medical office that store medications or supplies. For example, fire stations often store pain killers and/or sedatives for use in their ambulances. There is an increasing amount of theft of pain killers and other medications from fire stations and other facilities. It is, therefore, desirable to have a secure scanning device that limits access to authorized users. It is also desirable to have a scanning device that is compact and can be utilized in a variety of environments without the need for a pharmacy computer or computer station nearby. It is also desirable to have a scanning system that can communicate basic information in a simple way that can be understood by both medical and non-medical personnel.